The invention disclosed herein pertains to a device that is attached to a fishing line for causing a lure or bait on the end of the line to descend to a predetermined position while trolling for fish.
The basic features of a directional diving device, hereinafter called a diver for the sake of brevity, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,844,059 and 3,940,872 which are owned by the inventor of the improved diver disclosed herein. The preexisting divers are comprised of a planing member, usually a disk, beneath which a weight is attached. The weight is mounted to the center of the planing member for being rotatable to influence the position of the diver relative to the trolling boat. There is a diametrically extending fin perpendicular to the top surface of the planing member or disk. To use the existing divers, a leader is tied to the trailing end of the planing disk, and the lure is attached to the free end of the leader. A pivotal latching arm is latched at the leading end of the disk in alignment with the fin. The trolling line extending to the fishing rod on the boat is attached to the free end of the latch arm. At the outset, the latch arm is pivoted toward the trailing end of the planing member at an angle where it becomes releasably latched. Since the point at which the trolling line is attached to the latch arm is above the plane of the planing member and is set back from the leading end of the member, the leading end of the diver is angulated downwardly when the fish line is under tension due to the trolling boat moving in the water. Rotating the weight relative to the planing disk causes the water pressure on the fin to push the diver sideways of the boat as well as downwardly. The fin, acting as a rudder, directs the diver where it will station itself in a trolling pattern. The degree of relative rotation and the amount of line released determining its exact position. More lines can then be used from the boat at the most productive depth. A sharp tug on the latch arm such as the strike of a fish or for retrieving the lure causes the arm to unlatch and pivot into coplanar relation with the planing member. Upon this event, there is no longer a component of force for causing the diver to nose down so it planes horizontally through the water for making it easier to be reeled in.
The diver described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,872 has been sold and has been widely used throughout the life of the patent. The diver, however, has one disadvantage in that it stays tied in a fixed position on the trolling line. Most of the time, the length of the leader extending from the trailing end of the diver is quite long so that even if the fish pole is raised as high as it can be when the fish has been reeled in and is ready for being retrieved with a landing net, the fish may not be reachable with the net.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,687 solves this problem with a diver that is slidable along the trolling line after it is unlatched as a result of tension created in the line by a fish striking the lure. When the diver is unlatched, it can slide back and forth on the line without resistance. It will be evident that if the diver is released for sliding along the trolling line, it will also have to be clamped to the trolling line so it does not slide along the line inadvertently before the latch arm has been released. In the patented diver, the latch arm is made of wire and is configured to provide a pivot. The arm has an eye on one end through which the trolling line is threaded so that when the line is tensed, it unlatches the latch arm. The diver must be prevented from inadvertently sliding along the fishing line before the latch is released. Slipping of the diver on the fishing line is inhibited by a loop or extension on the wire formed latch arm. This loop or extension has the line running under it so that when the latch arm is latched, the loop exerts a transverse force on the line and presses it against the surface of the planing member. The inventor apparently recognized that the intensive force of a wire loop pressed across the fishing line can indent the line and thereby make it more vulnerable to breaking. To minimize this ill effect, the line is fed through a small piece of resilient tubing and the wire loop presses on the tubing to seize or frictionally engage the line within the tube. The tubing is necessary to avoid damage to the line at the point of compression. There are several problems inherent in this system. The continued use of the diver sliding up and down on the fishing line causes the line to cut grooves on the inside of the tube, requiring replacement of the tube. Since the tube is a separate component of the diver, it can easily be lost. Replacement tubes must be available. To eliminate this problem, the inventor has offered an alternative to using the tubing. This involves wrapping the wire loop with a rubber-like compound. This will also present the same problem. With constant use, a groove will occur in the compound and slippage will occur.